In recent years, the consumption of agricultural products worldwide and its international commerce has increased significantly. This represents new opportunities to farmers on the major markets and in other countries as well due to seasonality. Still, as the industry gets stabilized, being competitive becomes harder. This thesis is based on the assumption that to capture a greater market share; distribution and logistics strategies become increasingly important, especially because the use of intermediate providers in the supply chain increases the cost and lead time of the product and reduces the profit margin of the producer.

The main objective of this thesis is to develop a methodology for the analysis and strategic design of logistic platforms focusing especially on the case of the fresh produce industry. The resulting methodology includes: 1) a market and logistics analysis to find a feasible location for the logistics platform; 2) an analysis of the multimodal transportation options to efficiently move the product from the field to the logistics platform; 3) an analysis of the requirements of the market in order to design a platform that efficiently meets the customer needs and increases revenue; and 5) a sensitivity analysis based on certain metrics to make a comparison between the expected performance of the platform versus the competition.

The practical application of the methodology is demonstrated through the implementation of a case study performed to explore the feasibility of establishing a logistics platform in the United States for distribution of Mexican fresh produce.

• Octavio Sanchez
• Omar Ahumada